MINUTES OF THE JUNE 11,2024 CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING  A REGULAR meeting ofthe Hopewell City Council was held on Tuesday June  11,2024 at 6:00 p.m.  PRESENT:  John B. Partin, Mayor Jasmine Gore, Vice Mayor Rita Joyner, Councilor Michael Harris, Councilor Janice Denton, Councilor Brenda Pelham, Councilor Dominic Holloway, Councilor (Virtual)  CLOSED MEETING:  Councilor Joyner makes a motion to go into closed meeting pursuant to Va. Code Section $2.2-371 1 (A)(I)to discuss and consider personnel matters, including board and commission appointments; the assignment and performance of specific appointee and employees of City Council, and to the extent such discussion will  be aided thereby, Councilor Harris seconds the motion.  ROLL CALL  Mayor Partin- Vice Mayor Gore- Councilor Denton- Councilor Pelham- Councilor Holloway- Councilor Joyner- Councilor Harris-  Yes (Absent) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes  Motion Passes 6-0    Councilor Harris makes a motion to allow Councilor Holloway to participate  remotely. Councilor Joyner seconds the motion.  ROLL CALL  Mayor Partin- Vice Mayor Gore- Councilor Denton- Councilor Pelham- Councilor Holloway- Councilor Joyner- Councilor Harris-  Yes (Absent) Yes Yes (Abstain) Yes Yes  Motion Passes 5-0  Reconvene Open Meeting  Councilor Joyner makes a motion to reconvene open meeting. Councilor Denton  seconds the motion.  ROLL CALL  Mayor Partin- Vice Mayor Gore- Councilor Denton- Councilor Pelham- Councilor Holloway- Councilor Joyner- Councilor Harris-  Yes (Abstain) Yes Yes (Absent) Yes Yes  Motion Passes 5-0  Councilor Denton makes a motion to appoint Paul Reynolds to the FOLAR    Board and Sharah Fuller to the Recreation Commission. Councilor Joyner  seconds the motion.  ROLL CALL  Mayor Partin- Vice Mayor Gore- Councilor Denton- Councilor Pelham- Councilor Holloway- Councilor Joyner- Councilor Harris- Motion Passes 6-0  Yes Yes Yes Yes (Absent) Yes Yes  CERTIFICATION:  CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO VIRGINIA CODE $2.2-3712 (D): Were only public business matters (1) lawfully exempted from open-meeting requirements and (2) identified in the closed-meeting motion discussed in closed meeting?  ROLL CALL  Mayor Partin- Vice Mayor Gore- Councilor Denton- Councilor Pelham- Councilor Holloway- Councilor Joyner- Councilor Harris-  Yes (Abstain) Yes Yes (Absent) Yes Yes  Motion Passes 5-0    WORK SESSION  WS1- FY25 Smart Scale Round 6 Applications - Michael Campbell, Public Works Director. Here today to discuss the Round 6 SmartScale applications. He wants to give council a chance to take a look at what they have applied for, what it is based off ofand the fact that he will be hopefully at the next meeting to ask for a resolution of support for these Grant applications. He mentions he did an addendum sheet he gave to the clerk to give a little bit ofbackground he wanted you to have as a point of reference. We have four applications on behalfofthe city. You'll see five up here, one is from the MPO, the Metropolitan Planning Organization. We have three applications for the Winston Churchill Corridor. The whole application is what we'll go through, is the MPO application, that's the entire corridor in question and then the phase one and phase two that we. have, those are city applications. He presents on east Randolph Road and gives the demographics ofthe location ofit. He then goes over phase two ofthe Courthouse Road Pedestrian improvements and explains why it is considered phase 2. He mentions phase one is already in preliminary engineering, that's an existing project that we got money from the federal government earmarked. Mr. Campbell discusses the splitting up of the phase one project. He comments it will be an absolute total makeover of the corridor and compares it to the city having a Monument Avenue. Wel have the opportunity to put whatever we like in those roundabouts as far as decorations, statues and memorials. Pedestrian improvements would be fantastic, the traffic congestion and mitigation doesn't get any better than these designs. These studies are all based offofp pipeline studies. VDOT identified these corridors as needing help for safety reasons predominantly but also congestion, mitigation and pedestrian access. He states in this stretch of Winston Churchill, there have been fatalities and injuries. From 2016 to 2020, they lumped serious injuries and fatalities together, the number is 48. Those are 90- degree collisions called angled crashes, and roundabouts don'tallow those. That's the idea here; that and congestion mitigation. He mentions in phase one they are looking at $10 million. These projects, if funded through smart scale, are 100% reimbursable, there'sno City match. Mr. Campbell details the Phase two changes to Oaklawn Boulevard. Phase two is continued, three intersections altogether. Phase two would be two intersections that takes us to $17.5 million. Weare looking at a total, ifyou did it this way about $26 million give or take. We don't have an estimate yet for this MPO application. Mr. Campbell mentions they have    tol have everything in as a city, for a resolution of support by August 1St. They have until September 15t. Mr. Campbell states the estimate is forthcoming for the total cost ofthe project in all likelihood oft the corridor would be less than ifyou added phase one and phase two and still probably looking at $25 million dollars. Again, not asking for any money from the city. He discusses conceptual plans to Randolph Road, as he points out we want to do something with this intersection because we're looking at serious accidents rated al K. we are already in preliminary engineering for a smart scale project for the shared use path that ends around City Hall. He describes some changes to Route 10 as well as lowering the speed limit to 25 throughout the corridor. This project is $20 million almost $21 million. He mentions this is to give council a chance to take a look at this and ask any questions you may have. He mentions various improvements of paths around city hall and shows slides of where we are at in the project pipeline. He talks about the stakeholders and departmental meetings being held to discus the suggestions and conceptual plans. The cost for the study for Winston Churchill was $262,000 and the cost for the Route 10 corridor was $282,000, no city dollars. Mr. Campbell states he will ask for a resolution of support because it's the right thing to do. He talks about a current support resolution and current projects being done in  Hopewell.  REGULAR MEETING  Mayor Partin calls the Regular Meeting to order  PRESENT:  John B. Partin, Mayor Jasmine Gore, Vice Mayor Rita Joyner, Councilor Michael Harris, Councilor Janice Denton, Councilor Brenda Pelham, Councilor Dominic Holloway, Councilor(Absent)  Prayer by Pastor Harville, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor  Partin.    Councilor Joyner makes a motion to adopt an amended agenda with an R2 item for GSA schedule by Dr. Manker. Councilor Pelham seconds the motion.  ROLL CALL  Mayor Partin- Vice Mayor Gore- Councilor Denton- Councilor Pelham- Councilor Holloway- Councilor Joyner- Councilor Harris-  Yes Yes Yes Yes (Absent) Yes Yes  Motion Passes 6-0  Councilor Denton makes a motion to adopt the Consent Agenda. Councilor  Pelham seconds the motion. ROLL CALL  Mayor Partin- Vice Mayor Gore- Councilor Denton- Councilor Pelham- Councilor Holloway- Councilor Joyner- Councilor Harris-  Yes Yes Yes Yes (Absent) Yes Yes  Motion Passes 6-0  INFORMATION/PRESENATIONS  1. Report Out - Heather Ness, Robert Bobb Group. Ms. Ness gives an update on where we are, the GSA schedule overview and close with items needing action. Progress to date, we still have our fiscal year 2019 and 2020    audit packages in with Robinson Farmer Cox. She informs council ofthe status ofitems with Robinson Farmer Cox. We have also fully submitted fiscal year 2021 and 2022 and getting really close to submitting 2023. She talks about collaboration with the audit team, meeting with them every Thursday to answer their questions and their emails within 241 hours. Ms. Ness explains that the first year they are pining on with their work will likely be the longest road, just as it was for us to pull together the financial statements for the first year. For 2020 we also started with 2018, 2019 and then 2020. While its one year its actually 3. My hypothesis would be it will take them a little bit oftime to get through their methodology for this first go round for 2020 and then the following year should fall much more quickly. Asar reminder, we are: not attempting to clear out any ofthe deficiencies or material weaknesses until the start of fiscal year 2025. She mentions they have finished up the fixed assets for 2021 and 2022 today and they are moving through 2023 and as far as she can through 2024. There was a systems issue that has since been resolved and are moving along quickly through that. The next page shows all oft the progress. She mentions when she checked on this yesterday morning, they were through the end ofMay on 2022. As they are: finishing things, they are uploading them to Robinson Farmer Cox for them to opine on as soon as they clear with 2020. They are taking the same approach as our group is and as the team is sending them over, they are reviewing them. Ms. Ness discusses the creation ofthe SOPS schedule the last week or prior week on site regarding the SOP trainings well the finalization approval ofall SOPS, the SOP trainings, launch ofthe SOPs, as well as the repository of the SOPS. The schedule was created and has been approved and is now being disseminated to various parties across the city. She mentions having a couple ofupcoming key milestones. July 7th will be our final review week with the city. She talks about the team coming in on Saturday and the schedule they will follow for the week. Both SOP and ERP teams will be on site for the majority of that week to make sure everything stabilizes. She mentions they are continuing to correctly develop the suppository framework, and the importance of that sO when they transition it over to personnel, they know how to find things and things are triggered when it is time for reviews. They are also creating a policy and procedure standard for that repository sO everyone knows how it works. They have created and are refining training templates and updating them. Its really important to have practical training for the staff onsite. Ms. Ness stresses that these are future State SOPS, some ofthem are: not going to be useful until they get the implementations that go. live in July. Because they are working in the new control structure, the new process that the new capabilities ofthe    system will offer. Ms. Ness talks about steps staring July 1, with the pulled cash fund and bank reconciliation manager implementation. The next piece she discusses is the security and work optimization. Ms. Ness speaks to the segregation of duty security and work flow recommendations in detail. There are a couple of add-on modules going through also targeted for July 1 with bid and contract management. This one is going through smoothly no issues. Employee expense reimbursement is running a little behind and she gives some details as to why. She notes there are additional training sessions coming up on the 17th ofJune and then not until July 18th. The July 18th date is pushing things back a little. We will have everything in the system, assuming we go thru the GSA schedule today, by the end of. July. She takes some time to explain GSA per Diem. Hopewell Public Schools were going to implement Munis with no support from outside help. She mentions they had a meeting with them last week to understand what there plan was. Ms. Ness goes through the meeting information with Hopewell public schools. Her recommendation is that you, as city council sit down with Dr. Manker Jay and ourselves to talk about it with Hopewell Public Schools, sO you can get your questions answered and then they can determine an appropriate path forward. She mentions their concerns is that the city did this themselves many years ago and the advice that comes from vendors may not be the best advice for Hopewell Public Schools. Itisa always good to have support for organizational change, and to have an independent perspective in their advising. That would be our recommendation for best practices, whether or not it's us or any other vendor. Itis something that we advise and you all take into consideration and determine some guidance on how you would like toj proceed. Our next steps that we identified is for Dr. Manker to organize a collaborative meeting with the school board, school personnel that are participating and Council, to ensure that it is aligned appropriately with good ERP practices. She mentions the worry is that they are spending a lot oftime and money cleaning up the Munis system here and it would be a shame to take a bunch of steps backwards to do the same thing all over again. Let's make sure this time everyone is doing it with the appropriate structure; however, the city determines that to be is how you determine it to be, but we definitely need to open up those lines of communication. Vice Mayor asked that we add an item to the pending list for the city manager to get back to us with some options, perhaps when we are meeting once during the summertime to have a meeting with a school board on this  item before they start their process.    Ms. Ness announces on Tuesday, June 18h, we have our next Wastewater Commission meeting. She mentions they are in ai really good place for those reconciliations they have been talking about for the last nine months. She thinks they reached an agreement, with everyone's hard work and on the 18th, they will likely verbally reach the agreement and then document it to have everyone sign off on it SO everyone knows going forward, when they pull out that this is how reconciliations are done for every year moving forward. Her hope is that everything will be signed off on the 18th. They have a meeting with their industry partners and they will document a form of agreement per everyone's: request and moving forward with everything in writing. They have enclosed several of the issues that they have had open. They only have three that are on hold, and for this week, they have 63 current issues that are being worked. She explains the other open items that council sees, which are down to 19; those are the ones that are owned by the city and they are working through those as well. Ms. Ness talks about the treasury department and leaving the open item there but everything is moving along quite nicely and found nothing odd. They are still waiting on some records from DMV: to close that out. The one major open item is the GSA per diem discussion which is on the agenda for today. She mentions she would love a decision on that today sO they can code the system correctly for the employee expense reimbursement. She talks about getting close to an Asst. City Manager position, and the role that person will play as a transition resource, understand and recognizing the training, all the standard operating procedures and understand the history of the systems, sO they can continue to carry forward the controls that they are putting in place. They do not want to train on standard operating procedures that are: not approved. She mentions, come July gth meeting, you will hear a lot from her about what's finalized and approved and what's still outstanding. She would love for everyone to do their part in approving the next month oft the standard operating procedures and/or providing feedback that needs to be changed. This is going to be system implementation, system stabilization, launch ofthe new standard operating procedures and the start of what we. hope will be a clean audited  fiscal year.  2. Play AllI Day VA - Tabitha Martinez, Parks and Rec Director. Hopewell Recreation and Parks is going to be partnering in the statewide initiative with 40+ agencies. This was brought to us by Virginia recreation and parks Society, which will have a celebration on June 20. The mission is to provide free programs and services to the community from sunrise to sunset. The citizens can geti involved in    the community programs, highlighting what recreational parks represents. Ms. Martinez would like to invite city council and the community to celebrate the longest day of the year, the summer solstice on. June 20. She directs everyone to the  flyer to highlight the activities, touching all age groups.  COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITIZENS  1.Sharah Fuller- She is the neighborhood Watch Captain for Ward 5 and that every Ward has a neighborhood watch. There is a chair person, captain or coordinator. She explains they are simply trying to make the neighborhood better. She gives examples of support to the to the community. The Hopewell police dept. partners with them but it is really based offthe neighbors and what we do by coming together to do our best. Ms. Fuller talks about putting on family functions, fun days and cleanups. We are doing our best to promote the good in our city. Ms. Fuller gives an example ofal long-standing company in the area and talks about an upcoming Ward 5 celebration cookout at the Wesley United Methodist Church. Everyone is welcome to attend. She gives  more information about other events going on in the city.  PUBLIC HEARING  Councilor Denton makes a motion to extend the meeting until we finish R2.  Councilor Joyner seconds the motion.  ROLL CALL  Mayor Partin- Vice Mayor Gore- Councilor Denton- Councilor Pelham- Councilor Holloway- Councilor Joyner- Councilor Harris-  Yes Yes Yes Yes (Absent) Yes (Abstain)  Motion Passes 5-0    PH1- Hopewell Marina Proposed Slip Fees Charles Bennett, Economic Development Director. Mr. Bennett mentions his presentation has been updated, based on the feedback he received from the council and some ofthe citizens that communicated at the time we. had the work session during the communication from citizens and also citizens that came by and saw me at the office or the marina. He mentions ultimately, he will request action on the resolution you have in your packet. Itis the council resolution to establish the usage and storage fees for the city yofHopewell marina. He explains the changes and the reason for the changes to the financial model. There will be a total of30 long-term slips and 14 transient slips. The boat ramps, the kayak launch and the parking all stays the same. Mr. Bennett talks about the update ofi information from the James City County Public Marina. The information has been very educational and has been following their advice on a lot oft the implementation that they are going through. He explains some oft the discounts issued by Fishtails. He is proposing for covered or long- term slips to be $300 a month for city of Hopewell residents and $350 a month for non-residents. This is ai reduction from the first presentation where it was $40 a month for a non-residents and $360 a month for residents. The boat ramp fees at $8 for residents and $10 for non-residents will stay the same. He proposes $10a month for overnight parking for residents and $15 for non-residents. This does not apply to slip holders. This is for people who come and use the kiosk, the electronic parking meters put in at the ramp. Mr. Bennett speaks to ramp fees which covers boat owners to go use the river and park all day long but ift they are there after 9 pm, they will need to pay for overnight parking. The cameras would keep track of who is utilizing that. Hopewell residents would have a unique number they would put in to get their discount. Currently, there are no fees being charged for fish tournaments. Most people don't do any kind of fee for a fishing tournament unless iti is more than twenty boats. We feel the boat ramp fees are going to be enough for the collection of revenue. The $250 special events fee is primarily to make sure they don'thave people holding events on public property without a Certificate of Insurance, in case something happens during that event and they also keep track of who is approved to have a tournament at the site that day. He discusses some of  the public amenities for slip holders on the marina.  1. David Walker- a resident of Chesterfield count and has been at the marina for about 10 years. He suggests that we think about the residency being connected to his boat. He disagrees with the slip fees he pays as a non- resident but states he pays them in advance. Mr. Walker states he is confused about the fees he pays for use of the marina; is it going to the general fund or to repair the marina. He asks for help for those that are    involved to find a solution for. July 1 and then a solution ai month or two  from now.  2. William Haydt- States he doesn't agree with the two-month security deposit. He's been at the marina for 11 years. He pays all taxes on time. He states he doesn'tsee where the two-month security deposit has any bearing on us renting a slip and believes the slip rent is pricey for what we. have there. The maintenance being done is coming out ofour funds and he agrees with that one. hundred percent. Hel knows that something has to be done.  3. Rachel Fenton- Rachel Fenton- resident of Chesterfield and son is in Hopewell. They are new slip holders. You need to consider the current condition of the marina. She gives examples of repairs that need to be done to her boat slip at the marina. She states her concern comes to the funding oft this property and the manipulation that comes with the words save the marina. She gives a scenario to council and asks where are the  option plan B or plan C.  Councilor Pelham makes ai motion to allow her to: finish her comments. Vice  Mayor Gore seconds the motion.  ROLL CALL  Mayor Partin- Vice Mayor Gore- Councilor Denton- Councilor Pelham- Councilor Holloway- Councilor Joyner- Councilor Harris-  Yes Yes Yes Yes (Absent) Yes Yes  Motion Passes 6-0  Ms. Fenton asks what would the cost be to increase renovating dock A and then phasing to dock B and C. She lists several arguments that can    be made by the EDA. She offers something for council to consider and compared two marina vacancies, stating the reason for the full capacity of the other marina is because ofthe condition and the amenities. Once revitalized, the prices might bejustified but believes the EDA might be ahead ofits' time. She would like to keep her boat slip in Hopewell but  may re-consider leaving for 100 percentincrease.  4. Randy Wise- He talks oft being thankful and thinking positive for a positive direction of the marina, he was disappointed in the March meeting. He states it was discussed we could include the Hopewell Dock Commission in some of the talks and planning but nothing was done and no one included. He expresses that it's a good way to use the people you have elected to be on that commission. The first move is not to raise the rent, you've already lost people which means you've already lost rent, even the increased fees. He talks about the lady from Robert Bob Group mentioning pulled cash and that he has paid approx. $10-$12,000 in personal property taxes. IfImove my boat, that goes away. He states his dock fees about $100,000 over the last 10 years. In all the docks, a couple of $100,000; where's that money gone? He comments that like she said, it gets used somewhere else, not used at the marina. He explains marina upkeep is done by many boaters and details the work that's done. He highlights some amenities not accessible by boaters. Mr. Wise talks about the bigger boats that have already left the marina and possible personal property tax loss. How are you going to increase rent when you have vacancies across the board? We have all agreed we're will to pay more but $100, $150, $200 is too much. If Igo from $143 to $300 that's more than double and I'm getting zero extra for that. States there's slips that are going to be empty soon and there's plenty ofroom out there for more people to come at a small increase of $25,  $50, or $75 but $150, $200 it's just too much at one time.  5. Brian Caldington- not a Hopewell resident. States reasons why he should not be charged $50 extra because he is not a Hopewell resident. His boat pays taxes in Hopewell which means his boat is a resident of] Hopewell. Why do I get discriminated and have to pay an extra $50, is very opposed to that. States this has been promised for years, the dock is in horrible shape and now you finally going to fixi it up but you're going to double our rent? And also, a lease when all ofu us have been here for years you want us to sign al big long lease. Ihope we can all work together and get something going    forward. He comments this is the only marina hel knows that does not have wi-fi. Continues to comments you don't] have a lot to offer here but I do like itl here, Ilike the people and Ilike their location sO hopefully you all can  work the ground smoothly through.  6. Paul Reynolds- He recalls a work session 2 weeks ago some voiced an interest in funding the boat docks at the marina, using taxpayer funds. He argues there's no good reason to do that. He distinguishes between a business enterprise and essential services in the city. Mr. Reynolds breaks down the difference between the two by example and discusses citizen matters that should be taking the highest priority in Hopewell. He gives one example of a citizen who testifies to major damage to her home, and has had no help in addressing the issue in 32 years. He points out that this is an essential service. Mr. Reynolds asked that we consider that the docs are a business, not an essential service to all ofthe citizens ofHopewell. He asks, as you think about these fees and possibly throwing city money to these failing docs, it's going cost a bundle, a lot of money. Ifwe're going to throw good money after bad, we're denying the people, that's been asking for stormwater management for 32 years. What are your priorities? This  is what's really important.  7. Darlene Thompson- This seems to happen every year, that Mr. Charles is able to come before Council and ask for money after the budget. She states this is why we are where we are today. She states this is a budget period, from January to June 30th. Ift these things are needed, they should be addressed during the budget period. We need to come up with the way to raise money because I've been hearing about this marina for over six years and it keeps coming up every year. They got $10 million and it wasn't considered. We need to put better plans in action. She talks about Heather with the Robert Bob group, having a good plan to move the city forward. She talks about the citizens getting hit big-time with increases like real estate taxes and trash. Weare the ones that have to pay the price for it sO Council needs to get things in order. She gives examples of funding that Mr. Bennett has received, that was done outside ofthe budget. Some of the people haven't started paying their real estate taxes and people have the potential to lose their homes if they don'tpay the real estate    taxes, something that was put on peoples backs within thel last 28 days. Shei talks about the fear ofstanding before council, but you all did this to the city by casting the ultimate vote to spend the money. Ms. Thompson gave an example ofa way Heather talked about tracking spending. Shet talks about finding a better way to fund the marina. She calls out names and salaries for some ofthe city employees and reminds everyone that the citizens do not have it.  R1- Finance Committee Scheduled Meetings Discussion - Dr. Manker, City Manager. Dr. maker presents four options for the finance committee meeting that will be established in July. This is to provide staff some direction sO they can prepare for the July meeting. The first option is: have the finance committee meeting on the second meeting of each month and eliminate the work session. The second option is to have the meeting each month, eliminating the close session discussion. The third option would be the second meeting of each month. This option shortens the finance committee meeting by 30 minutes. Option four is to create a separate meeting sO1 now they are committing to three meetings ai month. This finance committee meeting will be the only meeting that's being held on that third meeting in ai month. She yields the floor to Mayor Parton for discussion.  Councilor Joyner makes a motion to approve option four for the third Tuesday.  Councilor Pelham seconds the motion.  ROLLCALL  Mayor Partin- Vice Mayor Gore- Councilor Denton- Councilor Pelham- Councilor Holloway- Councilor Joyner- Councilor Harris-  Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes  Motion Passes 7-0    R2-GSA-Dr.Manker, Cityl Manager. Dr.makercomesbeforeCounciltoask forrecommendation to: adopt the GSAschedule for per diem. Theremay be: an amendment to add the hotel rates, sO we can do that all at once for the Counselor Denton makes motion to approve the GSA schedule for the waAspbNe expense moduleasprtsemtrdandto include thel lodging aspect. Councilor Harris seconds themotion.  implementation for the employee expense module.  ROLL CALL  Mayor Partin- Vice Mayor Gore- Councilor Denton- Councilor Pelham- Councilor Holloway- Councilor Joyner- Councilor Harris-  Yes Yes Yes Yes (Absent) Yes Yes  Motion Passes 6-0 ADJOURNMENT:  Mayor Partin adjourns the meeting Respectfully Submitted,    6h  Brittani Williams, City Clerk